An inauspicious beginning

Since my paper has been accepted, it's time to get cracking on the next topic for my dissertation. It will be in the same field as my first topic, but only barely - I'm going to change gears pretty completely, and (gulp!) do something that's even a bit more technical. In a way, I'm looking forward to this. It's refreshing to know that I get to start from scratch, since I don't know a damn thing about the theory behind my next project. At the same time, I can't feel behind, because I haven't been in a position to learn about any of this before. Ever.

...Which is why it was demoralizing when yesterday, in the course of some crucial background reading, I came upon this sentence: "This section is quite technical and can be skipped by the disinterested or intimidated reader."

I'm just hoping that my leanings toward the latter don't turn me into the former.